Gluten-Free Vegan Naan Bread

Yesterday, my mother and I were brainstorming a bit about what I should make for dinner since we were having guests over. Lately I have been making a ton of dessert recipes and, though everybody loves desserts, I have really wanted to get back to making more dinner recipes. My favorite type of food is definitely Indian, so we decided on making a full Indian dinner with a Tandoori Spiced Sweet Potato & Lentil Curry served with homemade Naan Bread and Cucumber & Mint Raita, as seen in the picture below. The curry and dip recipe will up some time during the following days.

The recipe in this post is for the perfect doughy gluten-free and vegan naan bread. This was by no means as difficult to make as I initially thought it would be and I am so happy I decided to try this out. They have the same look and texture as the wheat based version, however these are made using only whole grains. If you are new to gluten-free baking let me just tell you that once you get the hang of it, there is no way you will return to cook with wheat. Not only can you make the most delicious baked goods, but they can easily be fully whole meal without looking or tasting too grainy. It does not get much better than that! If you have any left-overs, store them in an airtight zip-lock bag and eat within the next day. You can reheat them by placing them in a toaster for a few minutes. Another option is to store them in the freezer once they have cooled down. This will ensure that they keep for at least 1 month. You can also use these as a pizza dough or to make panini-style sandwiches.

Gluten-Free Vegan Naan Bread

makes 6 large loaves

Ingredients:

2 cups brown rice flour

1 cup buckwheat flour

2 tbsp dry active yeast

1 1/4 cup lukewarm water

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp maldon salt

5 pitted dates

3 tbsp coconut cream *

Directions:

1. Place the warm water in a bowl and sprinkle in yeast. Let this sit for 15 minutes until frothy. Place the dates and coconut cream in a small food processor and pulse until well combined, scraping down the sides when necessary. Add this to the yeast mixture and stir together.

2. Mix together all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Make a hole in the center, pour in yeast mixture and bring it all together, initially using a spoon and then your hands.

3. Place the dough on to a lightly floured surface and kneed for about 8 minutes. If necessary add in some more rice flour while kneading. I think I ended adding in about 1/2 cup additional flour. Shape the dough into a ball, place in a bowl, cover and set aside to rise for 1 hour. Make sure it is not stored in a drafty place.

4. When there are about 10 minutes left for the dough to rise, preheat your oven to 260 degrees Celsius/500 degrees Fahrenheit. Put the heaviest baking tray you own to heat in the oven as well.

5. Once the dough has finished rising, placed on to a lightly floured surface once more and knead for a further two minutes. Divide the dough into 6 equal balls. Dip each ball in a bit of flour before rolling them into a tear-shaped naan. Pick it up with wet hands, spreading a dab of water on each side of the naan. Remove the hot baking tray from the oven and place the loaves on to it (I used a baking sheet underneath). Put it immediately into the oven for 5-8 minutes. It should be slightly golden and puff up a bit. Flip the naans around and bake for another 1-3 minutes on the other side. Wrap the naans in a kitchen towel to preserve heat and serve right them warm.

Additional notes (*):

Coconut cream is essentially just full-fat coconut milk that has been stored in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (preferably over-night). Take it out of the fridge and scoop out the hardened coconut cream that you find on the top of the can. The reason for doing this is to allow the added water and coconut mass to separate. All of the water will have gathered at the bottom of the can, which is not going to be used when a recipe calls for coconut cream.

I have received plenty of exciting dessert ideas yet only a few suggestions for more savory dishes. Some recipes I look forward to making is for a basic savory pie crust as well as a nice hearty quiche. If you have any suggestions for a dinner recipe I have not made already, feel free to leave it in the comment section below. I love it when you guys send me messages with your ideas. There is hardly a better source of inspiration available!

Comments

These look divine! So excited, I might just have to change dinner plans tonight!

Since you asked for some recipe requests, I would like to see what you might make for my mom and me if we went to your house for dinner. I ask this because both of us have lots of intolerances, and it can get a bit daunting trying to figure out what we can both eat.
The full list of intolerances:
dairy
eggs
gluten
beans (including string and soy, but excluding lentils)
nuts
bananas
cranberries
pineapple
avocado
tomato
onion/garlic family (includes all forms of onions)
I love your blog because it takes care of the most important parts of the list, so thank you!

Hmm, tricky one! I would probably make a variation of the Mushroom, Potato & Sesame Stir-Fry, omitting the onion, garlic, tomato puree (and sesame seeds, if you also have an intolerance to seeds).

The onion and garlic can be skipped without having to make any substitutions (except perhaps additional seasoning). The tomato puree would be substituted for a homemade carrot puree (made simply by pureeing boiled/steamed carrots). Since you are allergic to soy beans I assume it includes soy sauce and liquid aminos, which can then be replaced with coconut aminos (if you can tolerate it) or just make the vegetable broth extra strong for flavour’s sake.

Other-wise I would make Roasted Portobello Mushrooms with Sweet Potatoes.

Again, here I would substitute the tomato puree for carrot puree and skip the garlic. The liquid aminos would be substituted for extra strong vegetable broth. If you guys are not allergic to seeds you can substitute the walnuts for pine kernels or sesame seeds. Other-wise I would cover the sweet potato chunks (before cooking) in the pureed dates, spread over a baking sheet and oven-bake it until tender at 200 degrees Celsius/400 degrees Fahrenheit (and just skip the nuts/seeds).

My husband has many of those same allergies. I feel for you. We just got him tested and he’s intolerant to dairy, gluten, soy, onion/garlic family, basil, almonds, cashews, sweet potatoes, bananas, tomatoes, and cucumbers. It’s a bit overwhelming, but I’m so thankful a friend suggested this blog to me.

Oh, it does not taste sweet at all! It tastes just like regular naan bread. I just add in a bit of dates to kind of take the edge off the grains, since I use whole meal gluten-free flours. With the addition of a little sweetness it still tastes as if you were to use regular wheat!

If you are a true celiac then the above recipe will not work as you cannot eat BUCKWHEAT as it contains gluten.
My daughter and husband are both afflicted with this disease and I could not make this recipe for them as delicious as it looks. Sadness!

Like mentioned by the others, as long as you buy certified gluten-free buckwheat flour it does not contain any gluten. As a grain, it is naturally free from gluten, despite what the name might let you to believe. The only way it could contain it, is if it was made on a factory where they also process regular wheat!

Hi Solveig! I must say you have done an excellent job on your blog here and I am really enjoying trying out all of the recipes. You in fact have reinvigorated my love for cooking as everything is so simple and I know it is all healthy. I just made the naan bread the other night and it was quite tasty. It went really well with some honey and peanut butter as a snack. Thanks again for the recipes and keep up the good work!

Your’r recepies look amayzning! Congrats! I will start trying them out this week!
Quick question, is there any substitution I can use intead of the coconut cream? My nefiew is allergic to coconut and I was planning on cooking this “indian feast” for my family. Thanks!

I’m afraid I have a rather limited experience with making naan bread in a skillet but from what I have heard, it should work. Just make sure you pre-heat the pan properly on the highest temperature and cover with a lid when you have put in the naan. I think starting with 1 minute on each side would be best, and just take it from there if it needs longer. Be sure to let me know if it works out!

Thank you so much for the recipe! Naan is one thing that I have craved since I had to cut out gluten. I am going to make these this weekend. If anyone has a good recipe for English Muffins, I would appreciate it (my fave thing). The ones I’ve bought in the store were like rocks. p.s. buckwheat is in the rhubarb family and is GF. Toasted buckwheat is referred to as kasha, Cheers!

I hope you like the naan bread! I am playing around with an English muffin recipe, but it is proving to be quite the challenge to get it right. I will post a recipe as soon as I am satisfied with the result though!

Hi Solveig. I love your recipes and already tried out a few. One question regarding the ingredient: I only have millet and chickpea flour left at home now.. can I substitute them for the brown rice/buckwheat flour? Thanks!

We just made the naan bread, and curry. The curry turned out fabulous but our naan bread looks like grayish brown clay?! It is very crumbly and would not cook all the way through and is doughy and tastes really yeasty. We cannot figure out what we did wrong? We have gone over and over the recipe and don’t think we missed anything. It did not rise much though and was pretty hard when we set it in the bowl to rise. It looks nothing like your picture. Any idea what we are missing?

Maybe the yeast in the recipe is just too much. I googled some more vegan Naan bread recipes and they add about the same ingredients (only difference is the wheat flour) and only 1tsp of dry active yeast. I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but it sure does look delic!!!!! Give it a try with a bit less yeast. And if you’re worried the Naan won’t rise just make thicker Naan doughs.

Just wanted to say hello! I did a google search for gluten-free nan bread and your lovely site popped up. I see you are from Norway. I’m living in Oslo at the moment, though I’m from the UK. Nice to see the summer, having survived my first winter here.

Hi Solveig– I just found your blog today and am completely blown away. It has to be one of the best and most beautiful gluten free vegan recipe blogs I have found. My question about this Naan recipe is what can I use instead of buckwheat? I live in a country where it is not available. Thank you.

This bread is seriously one of the best things that ever happened to me! It’s a dream come true for this gluten free vegan girl. My very picky daughter loves it and asks to pack it with hummus to take to school everyday. I have been making a pizza with it topping it generously with mushrooms, red onions and a spaghetti sauce every day for lunch with a salad and I don’t think ill eat anything else for a long long while. I’ve made it 3 times in 2 weeks. Can’t wait to try it with the curry soon. Thank you thank you thank you! You’re a genius! San Diego California loves you!

Can you tell me about the nutrition facts of this bread (calories especially per one serving), because I’m going on a very strict diet due to a disease and I’m craving for this recipe of naan bread so badly… Thank you !

I just love your recipes. My daughter is allergic to sugar including honey, maple and agave syrup so I am thrilled that your recipes don’t use any sweeteners or syrups just plant based foods. We made your brownies tonight and my daughter who is 12 was so happy to have something sweet without the pain that goes with allergies.

Hi Solveig, just wanted to say how much I love your blog – you’re such an inspiration. I have a blog at thenoblefoodie.com and focus on wheat & dairy free recipes as I have been diagnosed with a severe wheat allergy that affects my respiratory system. Your recipes are awesome and I seem to spend hours gazing over your blog xx

Hello Solveig, I really enjoy your desserts and the beauty of your pictures. it is so inspiring to a fellow chef. I was wondering if there is an alternative gluten free flour I could use for the naan since brown rice flour bothers the person whom I am making for? thank you!

If you have any questions, feedback, or just want to say hi, leave it in the comment section below and I will get back to you as soon as time allows! Cancel reply

Welcome to my blog!

My name is Solveig Berg Vollan, and I am a 19 year old girl from Norway. On this site I post my own recipes, all of which are vegan, gluten-free and completely healthy! Not sure what to make first? Browse through my Recipe Index and see if you find something tempting. If you wish to know more about me, feel free to check out my About and FAQ pages.